I know you all are expecting a very interesting dish of who's been striking my fancy, or what's been going on in my dating universe, so I think that you'll all be very disappointed to know that... well, nothing has been.
And I will now shock you all, by saying- I genuinely have never been happier.Before becoming a Christian, I found all of my affirmation and self worth in men. When I learned at Coloma the gravity of God's love for me, my entire way of thinking changed. I no longer had that pounding desire to be with someone. Suddenly I found myself delighting in my own leadership skills, excited by what God was doing in my life, and intrigued by things that I suddenly wanted to do solo that I had never done before.
Being in relationships my whole life, made me feel bogged down and dependent, and I finally felt and continue to feel free.
After my life changing experience at Coloma, I have only dated one person, and I was very intentional with him from the beginning. He was very well respected in the church, lived at an open house where people were constantly in fellowship, had an accountability group and aside from our few dates, we never spent any time alone together. I really prided myself in doing that relationship right from the very beginning.
Even though it didn't work out, I am happy that I now I know that I am very capable of doing things the right and Godly way next time I meet someone I'm serious about.Intentionality is a huge thing for me now.
But just so that ya'll don't think that my new, Christian dating experience was boring- take a look at a couple photos from our dates. We were purveyors of some very delicious late night coffee shops in the city, enjoyed a very spur the moment beach trip near midnight to Ocean Beach and ran in the water and the heavy mist that had us totally soaked through, and tried some amazing Arabic food in the Indies part of the city, and a fancy designer dessert place called The Candy Bar, which sparked my new found love of maccaroons and honey dew ice cream.
I must say, I certainly enjoyed this way of dating, more than any empty way I tried before.
Yours,
Lauren Desiree
I'm so happy to hear from you again. Your words here sounded truly inspirational, I bet many will get loads to think about. We often just rush into things, emotionally and sexually etc. and by doing that, end up spoiling something that could have been really beautiful and pure.. I'm truly happy for you, that you've experienced freedom. Sometimes I wonder what I would do if I was single (and didn't own loads of stuff) - I think I would just pack my bags and move abroad! ^^ But on the other hand, I really love my boy and we could possibly experience that together someday too. We share a lovely home now, we're a family of two. And I wouldn't change it for the world.
ReplyDeleteI must admit I'm not a very religious person. Or my faith is different, unique. But I do know faith or/and God brought me together with Samuli. I was one of the tutors on his confirmation camp, and we became friends. Our paths separated shortly after, but last year we met again and fell in love. So without joining youth activity of my church, I would have never met him.
Satu
Indie by heart